


Journeying by the Stars

by roguefaerie (samidha)



Series: Queer and Trans Faerie Tales and Other Writings: Expressions [6]
Category: Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms, The Lute Player (Fairy Tale)
Genre: Dedication, F/M, Gender Related, Gender Roles, Genderbending, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Other, Setting Changes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-01-06 22:05:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18397265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samidha/pseuds/roguefaerie
Summary: The queen was a just and beloved ruler. But when she married, her king quickly tried to prove himself. He was no sooner taken captive in what were now enemy lands, and Queen Saoirse feels compelled to go on a journey to save King Niall.





	Journeying by the Stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [betony](https://archiveofourown.org/users/betony/gifts).



> This is a much more well-rounded story after a skillful beta by Morbane that I am really grateful for! I hope you like it!

Queen Saoirse and her King Niall were newly wed. Though the queen had chosen him and brought him to her castle to live with her, they were becoming accustomed to ruling together. Still, it was not very long before trouble was afoot with a king over the water to the east, in Umbria. King Niall decided that his nervous, excess energy would be best dealt with if he were to go on a voyage into those lands.

And so while there was a mutual respect between the king and the queen, these were her lands in many senses of the word and the coupling did feel quite new to them both.

Further news came that many of the realm’s citizens were taken in a skirmish. It did not seem prudent for the queen to go directly into battle. The new king did not wish to lose his queen so soon. And so he went in her stead.

As he left, and the queen kissed him upon the cheek, still a bit gingerly as felt appropriate in the young marriage. The queen would continue to look after the realm, as she had in all ways as their ruler. She was known to be quite fair and capable, making sure food and counsel were provided to those who came to the castle in need. It was customary in her realm for those who hungered to sit outside of a home and await hospitality when it was truly needed. Though a castle such as hers may not have the traditional bench outside, she was not above ensuring that the custom was adhered to.

Those of the realm knew they were still in the capable hands of their queen.Though she was a young queen, she had been deemed a capable ruler with a balanced education in statesmanship and art given by those who served her parents’ court. She had been taught to play the lute, and this had quickly become her favorite, but she had not always had time to enjoy playing when she was doing the important work of ruling. She learned once more to make time for playing her lute and enjoy the emotional release it gave her when all was quiet in the castle and King Niall was long on his journey. 

In some ways, things continued as they had before Niall had arrived, and yet as time passed she realized more and more that she missed his presence. And so while she continued to help the realm run smoothly she also felt herself somewhat at loose ends without him, now that she had come to expect his presence nearby.

Time continued to pass and his absence became more and more obvious. She often wondered how she would proceed if news of Niall ever came back to her realm.

The castle seemed darker, and she felt the stirrings of wanderlust and fear.

Finally the news came of the king’s ultimate fate, that of becoming prisoner along with many of his men. She was considered a successful queen, kind and benevolent to her subjects, and able to keep her realm well in all the ways a queen should in those times. Still, she did not want to chance the reactions of her subjects if King Niall did not ever return. His absence had increased her fondness for him, and she became more and more committed to his safe return with each step of her journey.

And so she whispered her plan to only a few, and she selected her best and brightest among those in and near the castle to continue her accounting. The members of her court, from her own personal servants to the cooks in the kitchens knew that the rules of hospitality would never be broken even in her absence. That simply would not be done.

The queen herself placed offerings to the fae of milk, honey, and bread, hoping just as anyone would that these would be successful and she would at last be able to find the long-missing king.

Next the queen told only the most trusted in her circle that she would be going on a voyage to find Niall and bring him home. She found the most unassuming and least feminine clothing that she could. She checked if it was in good enough condition to take on such a long voyage, and she found some shears and gave her hair the proper cut. She practiced lowering her voice as well. She could not complete her task if she was recognized by anyone as the queen. 

When it was time, off she set, dressed as a male traveler would be. She had practiced her lowered voice and her stride, and she was ready to be off across the Emerald Isle. Soon she would be at sea, traveling to the land of the ruler who had taken Niall prisoner. This was not anything she had undertaken before, but she kept the confidence of a queen around her, though quietly. As she traveled, she was slipping into another role entirely, that of a male lute player of humble beginnings.

And so she found passage with her own personal funds set aside, and she was among many of her own citizens, though they traveled alone and in pairs, many of them unhappily so as their vessel followed the stars to the land where the king was imprisoned. 

She lowered her voice to match her presentation as a male bard and, introducing herself as Fionnbar the bard, began to speak with them and offer a listening ear when she could. Along the journey, she was taken at her word that she was a musician. If they doubted her, it was clear she knew many jigs and reels that reminded them of home on their journey, and would put those doubts out of their minds. She said that she was on a journey to help those who had recently been taken by the king of Umbria who had recently become their enemy.

And then one by one, at night aboard the ship, they came to her and said that her quest was noble and brave, and asked that she seek freedom for their relatives as well. They slipped the queen sketches that went among her things. And she, with the memory she had for facts and figures and music, held their names and their circumstances close within her mind and heart as well. It was not clear she would be able to free the prisoners, but she would never in her life forget their loved ones on the ship. She would try by any means at her disposal to not leave the prisoners in a kingdom without the barest hospitality. She did not relish having enemies, but she would face the king of Umbria for those on the ship and more.

Still, the queen wondered and worried of her own kingdom, knowing she had left it to go upon a quest for her king’s safe return. Only now that she was out in the open air were some of her thoughts becoming clearer about herself and King Niall. She was able to look at her situation with fresh eyes, but she did worry at times for her subjects at home along her journey. This made the people she met on the ship all the more important to her.

Then came the day that the ship arrived safely on shore and she bade as many of her fellow travelers farewell as she could. She knew she would never forget the experience of being at sea. She left feeling connected to her people in a new way after her time with a group of them on this ship, and she was even more committed to her quest, feeling it was even more important than before.

She set off on land and realized she had a long trek ahead of her. She traveled with her lute secured well to her back. She played when she saw a child trudging along on an errand for a parent, and she met many a traveler in this way. They were drawn to her music. As when she was on the ship, she would listen to those who found her upon the path. For long had she been accustomed to hospitality and the concerns of her subjects, she used these skills as she went.

They did not ask her of her king or much of her own quest. Instead they asked how it was to travel among the kingdoms and provide entertainment. She told them of the sea journey, and that she was going to see the king of their lands, in Umbria, to aid families whose tales of woe and suffering she had heard.

This often made people feel at ease communicating with her. They assumed that she was a long-suffering bard who had heard many stories of this nature. The children she encountered spoke of their parents and the fates of animals on their farms, and those who were older bent her ear as well to speak in more adult terms of their worries. She spoke to each one in turn and tried to make sure that each felt heard, even if only by a traveling bard. She knew this was important, and that it would ease their minds.

As she had learned from her brief journey by sea, she followed the stars as well as the road, finding that she had a natural aptitude for this she had not discovered until she had gone a-journeying.

She thought then of other skills she might have had which were never given a chance to develop in her role as queen.

And when alone, she could play her lute to the sky with only the night and the creatures at either sides of the road for her audience.

*~*~*

Long and cold were the nights, and there was rain many a time. She kept her lute safe in its casings and sack then, tightly packed. And one day during a streak of rain she came upon the castle where King Niall was being kept captive.

The sky cleared enough to give way to moist clouds, and she played her lute as she approached. 

Those near the gates asked what brought her to this castle, though her bardic garb and her lute were in sight.

“Oh,” she said. “My goal is only to entertain the one who rules these lands,” she said, in the lowered voice she had practiced all along her journey.

And she was swept inside, for a king such as he was always seeking entertainment..

Her lute playing was sweet, and her clothes still smart for she had washed them and herself in a spring before her approach. And so not being as travel-worn as she might have been, she fit the role of entertainer for someone such as himself..

“My name is Bran,” she said, giving a name that would not arouse suspicion in these lands. “And I humbly ask that you judge me by my music and my art of telling the tales.”

And so Bran the bard she was in an instant, and she stood tall and she played until the king’s eyes glowed with such a fierce admiration that she guessed if he could see it within himself he might be embarrassed. Even in the guise of the bard, her presence was strong and he was quickly taken with Bran. Though it was perhaps unexpected for her, she knew the look in his eye might help in her cause. As for herself, she did not feel a need to return anything but the necessary polite deference of her station as bard. For she knew she had a king of her own.

She played with a special fervor now, for all of the lives of the families she had met, and as she played she also told stories that might flatter the king but also bring forward the empathy in his heart.

Her plan was beginning to work. She was given comfortable quarters so that she might stay and provide music and stories for some time to come.. 

She knew that this king was not used to providing anyone with compliments. And yet he paid her playing an acknowledgment some days later. “Bran,” he said, “You are a bard of great skill, and I would keep you among my court, but I believe of you that your talent matches your ambitions, and you must spread this skill far over my kingdom.”

“And perhaps others!” someone piped up, and the king conceded.

“Indeed. Perhaps other lands, such as the one you have traveled from, and others still. Due to my great respect for you, I give you freedom to travel these lands. And I must ask you, what is it that is in your own heart, full of stories and songs? What is it that you wish?”

“I wish freedom for those who are prisoner here of your great wars,” she said in the voice of Bran.

“You shall have what you desire. You may have your pick of whomever it is you seek from my dungeon.”

And so Bran considered. “If I continue to play for you, would you grant freedom to all of your prisoners?”

And the king said, “I would have you continue, and if that were your wish...I would grant it.”

This was said before the entire hall, and if her heart could have been stirred for the one who kept her husband captive, it would have been, but it was not so. Still, there was peace in her playing. One day it brought the Umbrian king such peace that he began to nod off in front of her. Before this could happen, he held up a hand to stop the proceedings and spare himself embarrassment.

“The prisoners’ freedom is won,” he said, still tired and seeming unsure of himself.

“My thanks,” she said as Bran.

She was escorted below the castle, and the guards were dismissed. “My name is Bran the bard. There are many of you here whose stories I have heard on my long voyage. But all of you may come with me, for I have won your freedom from the King. We will journey to each of your lands before I myself return to mine.”

And the prisoners followed her in a long, long line out of the castle, and there were no more prisoners as spoils from war in the kingdom that they left behind. For a bard who was a queen had charmed this notion right out of the head of that king.

*~*~*

Each prisoner was led into their own lands or to a boat that should carry them home. Again she used what she had learned of the stars to navigate away from the castle and into her own familiar lands with her subjects and King Niall in tow. They trusted her ability to pass through the lands as a seasoned traveler would, and she showed them that she did indeed know her way. The prisoners were in awe that they were free, and had been escorted home as if they themselves were so cared for by a simple traveling bard.

The journey was long, but the way home felt shorter than her trip to Umbria, and she was in high spirits. She walked beside her king, and she held her head high and gradually the prisoners did as well despite the dark turn they had each experienced. As they entered their own lands, they breathed easier.

The king was quiet and seemed to gain peace as they made their way across the land. They did not travel with the usual escort a king might have, which allowed the queen to see her husband as he truly was. The gratitude in his heart was clear and it shown on his face, and he walked close to her and drank in every moment of their travels together.

He also asked her to play for them in the open air, and as she had with the king of Umbria, she learned his favorites and they each relished the music. Sometimes she saw him begin to sing under his breath and watch her, and she would hide a smile despite herself.

She knew that he considered her a citizen who had gone above and beyond for him, and though he might expect this as a king, he was still new to ruling in these lands, and young besides. She saw the way that Bran and the music softened Niall’s features and brought him great joy on the journey.

She allowed herself to relish this.

When they parted from the last of the former prisoners, it was she and her husband, the king of their lands, walking together until the they came to the gates of his castle.

He had not asked why Bran would follow him this far, for he was a king, and many of the prisoners had been his subjects.

As he approached the gates, Bran stole away, and the queen snuck in just out of his view. As she stole through the castle, she saw that things were running smoothly, if quietly. Subjects still arrived to receive hospitality, and she saw the same activities occuring within the castle walls as they received counsel and material aid. The castle was quiet but just as busy as when she left, and the grounds and interior were being kept in good order. 

When the king entered the castle, he did not immediately see his queen running to greet him. Still ahead of him, she was in her chambers changing. As she had before leaving, she passed through the kitchens and left a small dallop of cream in the offering plate for the faeries in thanks for their safe return. 

Perhaps it would be strange to return to this role of queen. For as an adventurer she had been as free as the sky. 

Now she readied herself to listen, as ever the bard had done, to the thoughts of her husband concerning his long journey and imprisonment. 

Perhaps he had been humbled, though never lessened as a person by his experiences.

But when she did come to him, after their subjects had calmed somewhat in their rejoicing, he did not see the face of the lute player as she stood before him as the queen. And she saw in his eyes that his heart was sinking. It seemed from his face that he could not imagine sharing his journey with one who had been safely ensconced in a castle.

She knew full well that he might wish for the company of the bard. Her lute playing had charmed some of the men, including the two kings. 

She held in her own sigh and hid her dawning frustration.

“My king,” she said. “Long have you traveled.”

The silence that followed was awkward for both of them. 

“There is no doubt you have changed,” she said, “As have I.”

“This could not be more true when it comes to myself,” the king said. “And I see that the kingdom is still in good order,” he allowed.

“We did not for a moment forget you,” she said. “But perhaps…”

Irritation crossed his face. “There was a-- I had an escort, and I cannot find him anywhere.”

“Ah, yes.”

The king looked at her, confused.

“Perhaps now is a time for honesty,” she said. “For you see.” She allowed her voice to lower into the timbre she had adopted as Bran. “There was not a day I did not work for your freedom. And that shall perhaps be my legacy regardless of what is thought of me, I believe.”

She followed it by beginning to sing. It was a song Niall had requested on the way home.

Niall’s face lit up, and he could not help but shed sudden tears. “My qu-- My dear. My dearest bard.”

She smiled. “And so you see, it is I regardless, who came and found you.”

“Never have I felt more--” He stopped himself. “And you are well? My queen, ever I loved the bard-- that you are.”

“For I am both,” she mused. “And so will you have your queen?” she asked, “Or do you prefer him? The bard?”

“I have never loved you more than I do in this moment. My heart has never been so full. I will have you in any way that you wish. You are the queen of this realm, and I your humbled king, who is free only because of you. I loved the bard, my rescuer, and I love you as my queen. My adventuring one. Be as you will.”

“I was free under the stars,” she said, “And free when I played. I came to understand why you would seek adventure, perilous though it was. Still, together we have been on an adventure that has brought us closer together, I feel, and I bring you once more into my court knowing I made the right choice.”

“And I as well, my love. You have done me a great honor that I will not forget.”

“Rest now, my king, for you are home where you belong.”


End file.
